


Liars and Killers

by Harbinger



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Tumblr Prompt, request
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-18
Updated: 2013-04-18
Packaged: 2017-12-08 20:04:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/765448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harbinger/pseuds/Harbinger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natasha Romanoff intrigues him. But she is human. Nothing more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Liars and Killers

**Author's Note:**

> my titles suck, I know. Once of the wonderful Natasha's I role play with put up a prompt the other evening asking for Loki's to write a character study on his view of her during their showdown on the helicarrier. My brain grabbed it and ran with it. Somehow it became present tense. I have no idea. Once again, I can be found at tricksteringreen.tumblr.com if anyone has any questions or would like to request something.

There is cunning brilliance behind those bright orbs of hers. Even though the light sheen of the glass and the distance between them, he can see it. This woman is smart, a lethal specimen that he would be foolish to underestimate. 

But she is human. She's nothing to him. Nothing in comparison to him. 

" _I want to know what you've done to Agent Barton_."

" _Oh, is this love, Agent Romanoff?_ "

Exactly what exists between the Hawk and the Spider, Loki is unsure. They do not share the trappings of a couple deeply in love but they also do not bear the markings of those without feelings for one another. He senses that there is more to her debt than the sole thing of her life being spared by the man. There's always more.

And he does like this. He loves this. Her sentiment feeds his growing ire and if his words come quicker, if his breath comes quicker, if the feral qualities he now possesses from the fall and the pain show more now than before, all the better. He needs this woman to fear him. He needs her to be terrified of him. 

" _This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer. Pathetic! You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers_."

Exactly of whom he's speaking, he is uncertain. Because he himself has lied in the service of liars and killers. What was a king if not a liar? And the Norns knew, Odin's hands were an even deeper shade of carmine than his own. Even the Widow's ledger could not match the stain upon the gallows god's heart, hands, and soul. And how much blood has Loki spilt on the account of the Allfather? On the account of Thor?

It would run the Nine red, he knows that much.

His fist strikes the glass and the woman flinches back. How much of her supposed terror is true and how much she expertly fakes, Loki does not know.

" _I won't touch Barton. Not until I make him kill you. Slowly. Intimately. In every way he knows you fear. And then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I'll split his skull!_ "

He means every word. 

" _This is my bargain, you mewling quim!_ "

It's harsh even for him, the words snarling low out of his throat, devoid of his normal silk and suave articulations. They rasp almost painfully but he savours them. And at that point, does it matter if she is truly frightened or not? One way or another, he'll get to her. 

Loki does that. 

He gets to people.

" _You're a monster._ "

He chuckles, gently, softly.

" _Oh no. You brought the monster._ "

Perhaps it had not been part of the plan to reveal that. The monster must be released and perhaps, he muses in the seconds following when he realizes his slip and feels a brief flare of panic, perhaps it will work in his favour.

They fear the man. He can sense it. Smell it, even. And people, when they fear something, attempt to cage it. He knows that too well. 

" _Thank you for your cooperation._ " 

Let her think that she beat him. Let her think that it was her victory. 

Later, as the Helicarrier falls from the heavens, Loki savours it as  _his_  victory.


End file.
